Any Other Day
by Mysterbyg
Summary: No matter how far the stars, or the worlds they inhabit, it's fate the brings together all things at the right time. Prominently featuring Tenchi Muyo/Universe/In Tokyo, Dragon Ball Z, and YuYu Hakusho, but including everything from Marvel to DC, to Ace Attorney to the Dynasty Warriors series. This is my attempt at creating a world where everyone is together. For better or worse.
1. Reminiscing in Darkness

It was an average day. A day like any other. ...only when, you're me, no days are average. My name, is -to be revealed-, and this, is my story. I was half asleep in my office, with my feet up on my desk, enjoying the last hot days of summer while reading some mail. "A wedding huh? Better rsvp later-" "Making plans for the future?" I jumped. There was a man standing at my desk dressed in a black cloak. He wasn't necessarily tall, had long jet-black hair, and seemed to have been wearing glasses. "How bold. For someone in your line of work, of course." He spoke like we were having a conversation, when he just sorta crept up on me. "...suuure. You need something?"

As he reached into his cloak, and was rummaging around for something, I immediately became focused; prepped for anything I could imagine. ...until he pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. "...and that is?" Then he unraveled it, revealing that it was a map. "Once you arrive here," he pointed to a particular spot "all will become clear." This was WAY too suspicious. "Is that right?" I had to think about this one. But, I decided to check it out-if it was what I suspected, then I'd be making things that much easier for me with him out of the picture. "...very well. I accept."  
I stood up, grabbed the map, pushed my chair in, and proceeded to walk away, when I heard almost mockingly "You're not naming a price? In your line of work?" I stopped, but didn't turn. "You're questioning it?" He simply laughed lightly, and I kept walking.

I chose to take my ship, since someone would pick up on my energy signal if I flew with my own power. And if this was a trap, I wanted to get the jump on this guy. _I'd better get this over with soon,_ I thought as I climbed in _I need to pick out a tux after all.  
_As I took off, the man in black smiled a sinister looking smile, and disappeared into the breeze. While I was in the air, I started to reminisce. "Man, Billy's getting hitched. I hope everyone else will show. It's been almost ten years. ...well, other than Sam and Nathan anyw-" My rear-view mirror (yes, I have rear-view mirrors on my ship) caught my attention. It was the man in black; hand extended with energy gathered at his palm. I read his lips: "Farewell, dragon." I rolled my eyes, and closed them. "Oh son of a-" I was interrupted by his blast of black energy, that pierced the ship, and caught me just above the neck.

The pain was immense, and I was losing consciousness fast. "D-damn, gotta, focus..." I felt blood, and was going down fast. But directly below me, was a house. My ships computer said: {Chances of survival: 99.9%}. Then I saw some trees. {Chances of survival: 0.0003%}. I just smiled. "As if I have a choice." I gave almost everything I had, and finally managed to get it to the forest. _I-I, have to hold on! I, need to, I, have to..._ And I blanked out.

The whole time I was unconscious was a nightmare, because when you're not in control of your mind, it tends to wander. Every powerful memory, feeling and experience I could remember was swimming around in my head-the good, the bad... and the painful. But just as soon as they came flooding in, almost just as fast they seemed to slip away, farther, farther and farther, until they disappeared. Then, after what seemed like an eternity in darkness, a shining light pierced it like a dagger. It was almost blaring, but I couldn't help but be drawn to it's warmth. The closer I became, the better it felt. Until I let it envelop me completely.

And just like that, I was awake.


	2. The Angel's Bad Day

The first thing I noticed was a spinning ceiling fan, moving too slow to be on, but gently rotating in the summer's breeze. I tried to move, but it was hard, and my muscles felt like rocks. I looked down to see that some of my body was bandaged. "Wh-what, what's-" Then, my head gave a massive throb. With my eyes widened and I was holding it, I gave-what I didn't know at the time-was the only time I ever screamed due to being in pain. A few weeks ago, that me would've slapped me for it, but now... Now, was different.

I frantically looked around the room while writhing. I was on a couch in an unfamiliar house. But the confusion only made my condition worse. "Wh-what's going on? Where am I? ...Who-?" Then, I heard a soft voice of a little girl. "Everyone, come quick! He's awake! But I think he's in pain." She walked over to me with not a look of fear or tension, but concern. "Excuse mister, are you-?" I jumped, and started to calm down a bit. "Huh? Wh-who are you?" It looked like I might have hurt her feelings a little bit, but I was too frantic to notice at the time (normally I'd apologize, of course). "Um, that's what I was going to ask you-"

"Is he up yet?" "Ryoko! At least try to act civilized! That poor boy has been asleep for a week! Show some sympathy!" I blinked, and looked into my hands in disbelief. "A week? ...Boy?" I was definitely past six feet tall. "Huh?" "Oh, is that what his voice sounds like? Phew, that's a relief. He looked like it'd be weird." This time two girls came, each in either their older teens, or early twenties (I just came out of a mini-coma, so I couldn't tell). The most recent to speak looked a little rough around the edges. She had her hands behind her head, and looked like she was looking me over. With a slight head raise, she said "Hey." "Hi..." I said blankly.

"That's terrible! How could you be that clueless! He's probably in some kind of shock!" I shrugged a nodded just a little, but no one saw it. The girl called Ryoko said with a smirk and a calm voice "Then why are you talking so loud?" She twitched, and her face was really red. The little one laughed while the mysterious girl regained her composure. "I do apologize for my rudeness. My name is Ayeka. You have been asleep for quite a while." I had my wits about me by then. "You said a week right?" "Yes, that's right. How did you know-?" " 'Cuz he could hear you big mouth from a mile away-ow!" Ryoko was interrupted by a flying coaster-courtesy of Ayeka.

"I hope you're not in too much discomfort." She bowed slightly as I was still taking all of this in. "Not uh, physically, no." "Ha ha! He's showing a sense of humor! Now that's a good sign if I'd ever heard one! Yup!" I felt something cold on my head. "Crack a joke or two, or go nuts. The latter requires WAAAY more energy than I have right now. By the way, who-" "Who am I you ask?" The short pink haired girl said with a grin that was, well-unsettling, "Only the greatest genius in the universe of course!" I could tell by the way she was boasting, that there might be a sliver of truth somewhere in there.

Ayeka had to cover for her. "Her name is Washu. She's the main reason you're still alive." As I looked at her wide-eyed, about to say thank you, she started fanning herself with a folding fan. "Well, I don't know if I'd go thaaat far. Ha ha ha-" "Yeah, don't. We all helped you know." Ryoko sounded mad, but her face showed that she felt left out. "But miss Ryoko," the first girl said with a blink, "all you did was watch television." "Gah! I told you Sasami, I said 'he'll wake up if we give him something good to watch', remember?" I may have been in a state of semi-confusion, but that got through loud and clear. "Now that's reasoning I can get behind! I can't believe it didn't work." Ayeka twitched. _Oh great, another Ryoko. That's all we need._

I struggled to get my feet to the floor, and sat up straight. "I sincerely and open-heartedly thank all of you for your kindness." Her eyes widened a bit. _Such composure and sophistication..._ She gave Ryoko dagger-eyes; which she saw _Nothing__ like that barbarian woman._ Ryoko stuck out her tongue. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to-agh!" I went to stand, but was forced to lean forward on the coffee table. Washu still had her smug look. "And where do you think you're going in the shape you're in?" Sasami agreed. "Please rest. I can get you something to eat." "Not necessary." "But why?"

"My mind is a swirling puddle of thoughts right now, but I'm pretty sure this isn't my house. The longer I stay here, the more of a burden I'm sure to cause." Ayeka and Sasami were taken aback, and Washu's expression finally changed. _He's 'pretty sure'?_ "You idiot!" Ryoko blurted, "Just how far do you think you'll get the way you are?" It was painful, but I managed to stand. With a stretch, a sigh, and a shrug, I replied, "I'll find out, won't I?" There was a silence. "...Um, where's your front door exactly?" They sighed, and almost fell. Ayeka had most of her composure. "Well, looks like you'll be here for a while th-" I slowly put one foot forward. "I'll... manage... oof..."

"Don't you think it's a bit rude-leaving without thanking everyone for taking care of you?" We turned back to Washu, who had that smile on her face again. "W-well, yeah, but didn't I do that already? Could've sworn I did... Man," I ran my hand through my hair "I really am out of it." "What Washu means, my good sir," Ayeka said with a conniving look on her face. Ryoko had it too, but Sasami had a smile. "Is that not everyone is home right now. It wouldn't be proper to leave in their absence." I sighed. "Yeah, it wouldn't. That's just down right mean. You win, I'll stay."

Sasami clapped. "Yay! I'll get you something to eat like I said." "Hey now, just because I'm going to be here a while, doesn't mean I should eat food that isn't mine-" Just then, my stomach gave what sounded like a cry for help. "Then explain what that was." She had her hands on her hips, while I looked back at Washu. "The sound of a week without food?" "Yup." "Figured as much." And down I went, right back on the couch. After a few minutes, Sasami came back with a tray of food. Some rice, different kinds of vegetables, and what smelled (and later tasted) like good fish.

"Would you like seconds?" My inner voice screamed "Sweet God yes I'm starving!" But I politely refused. "I couldn't eat another bite." I fibbed, "It was really delicious though, I'll say that." That, was not a fib. The flavor was above excellent. The downside was that made me want seconds even more. The little chef bowed slightly. "Thank you very much for the compliment." "Yeah, Sasami can cook alright." Ryoko started to dig in to what was left that I turned down. "If it weren't for her, we'd probably starve. Ow!" Washu bapped her with her folding fan from behind. "So," Washu started to say in a tone that meant she was leading up to something, "what's your na-"

She was cut off by me saying "Wow, I just noticed-this is a really nice home." And it was. Very quaint. As I looked it the glass door, I could see what looked like at least two miles of forest, with cherry blossoms in full bloom. "A beautiful sight. And check it out, a shooting star in the daytime. Don't see that everyday." That got their attention. "That, isn't a shooting star..." Washu said, her smile fading again while Sasami put one on. "Mihoshi and Kiyone are home!" As she ran up to greet them, Washu bit her thumbnail. _Not good. Once he says thank you, he'll try to leave again. And he seems like the type that would be hard to stop._

"Wait," I thought about it for a minute "how does a shooting star mean-wait, never mind, doesn't matter." I stood up a lot easier that time "Can't let people see me lounging around, now can I?" Washu saw right through me. "Well, they've already seen you unconscious for a week." My legs almost gave in. "T-t-true... Ah! But I should at least greet my hosts at the door when they come home." _Gothca._ "Burdening them with introductions before they can even get settled in? Not cool." I took a knee, defeated. "Wow you're good." Washu didn't have her usually boastful grin, but instead gave me a smirk. "Of course."

I gulped. _Whoa..._ As I sat back down, I could hear a door opening, and voices. The first was Ryoko. "Man, what happened to the Yagami? You and Kiyone get into a battle against some pirates?" Second was Sasami. "Or fly through an asteroid field?" I recognized Ayeka's third. "She gave you the controls, didn't she?" There was a sniffle, and a new voice. "Just so that Kiyone could get something to drink, and the next thing I know, we hit a cargo transporter! Now headquarters might take the compensation of our paychecks." She was definitely crying, so as they turned the corner I tried to lighten the mood.

"Lemme guess, sucka said he got whiplash too, didn't he?" The fourth voice said, "Wow! You must be psychic! ...Wait," She turned the corner asking "who are-you?" I raised my hand. "Yo." "He woke up!" Sasami motioned toward me with her hands in a "ta-daa!" fashion. "That's wonderful! I-oh!" She turned around, dried her eyes and adjusted herself, then came back with "Hello, my name is Mihoshi. I'm glad to finally meet you." "Th-thanks. I just hope you didn't get your hopes up. As soon as I thank this Kiyone for helping keep me alive, from whatever happened to me, I'll be out of your way." "You mean you don't remember?" Ayeka was shocked.

And after some thought, so was I. "No, no I can't. What the hell..." _I knew it..._ Washu thought. "Man, I don't even think I know my own-" "UGH! This is the third time this WEEK Mihoshi! Honestly!" Mihoshi hid behind Ryoko. "Hey! What gives?" "Kiyone sounds really mad this time." "The chief said it wouldn't come out of paychecks-since the guy we hit was smuggling weapons, which would've probably got us a pay RAISE but-" As Kiyone was on a rant, Ayeka snapped her fingers. "See Mihoshi? She proud of you." *sniff* "You think so?" "That voice..." I thought I was saying this in my head, but I guess my inner monologue was still out of commission "I knew it. I'm dead. I'm dead, and this is heaven. I'm getting outta here."

This time I jumped up. As the girls were processing all of that, I pointed up, and yelled "I CHOOSE LIFE! I WANNA LIVE!" As I ran, I didn't hear Kiyone coming. "Oh, and did that boy wake up yet?" As I thought _Again__ with the "boy!"_ *bump* we ran into each other. "Ow, never mind, I can still feel." "I'll say. Mind watching where you're going?" "Yeah, that was careless of me. I'm sor-" If I had ran into her sooner, I'd still think I was dead; because I'd seen an angel. "-ry..." "Well, nothing broken anyw-" She blinked. "Hey, you're that-" "Please, not 'boy'. I've been through enough today. Not that you didn't have it rough yourself."

We stood up and fixed ourselves. "Oh, you heard all that, huh?" She looked a little embarrassed, and MAN did I want to see a smile on her face. "Well, you nailed a smuggler, and you and Mihoshi aren't hurt, so I'd call that a success." I smiled. "Right?" She laughed. "Definitely one for the books alright." She extended a hand to me. "Kiyone. Welcome to Masaki house." I reached for her hand-then I stopped. "Are, you o.k?" "You don't remember, do you?" They all looked towards Washu, but I was still frozen. "You're name? What is it?" They looked back to me, and I heard Sasami and Mihoshi gasp under their breath.

"I... I don't, I don't know... Washu?" I turned. "Just who am I? What happened to me?" She sighed. "Come with me, I'll show you the wreckage."


	3. In West Philadelphia

I followed Washu outside, near some trees. Not that I noticed or anything-I was barely able to take my eyes off Kiyone since the collision. But every time she looked at me, I turned away. I was sure she didn't notice-but Ayeka however: "Something wrong stranger?" "Huh? Wh-wh-what? N-nothing, no, just uh, just fine." "Here we are. Where we found you." I looked forward, and felt my jaw drop. I say, "felt", because I wasn't aware of it. I didn't know what I was looking at. It was some kind of machine, with a pyramid shape and engine looking things in the back smashed into the ground. "What in the-? Is that something I should recognize?" "You should," Washu said messing with it "Ryoko and Ayeka had to pry you out of it while it was on fire."

All I could do was shake my head. "Unreal... what shape was I in?" "Well, other than that nasty head wound, nothing but a few scratches. But, your body..." I blinked. "...What about it?" She shook her head. "I don't think you'd want to discuss it in the open." "Am I a chick?" The others girl laughed, but Washu, said-in a tone that made my eyes widen: "No you are not." "Uh, u-um,-" "This was the only thing you had with you at the time that we could salvage." Ayeka showed me a silver chain, with a golden pendant on the end. "Maybe this will help you remember something."

I concentrated as hard as I could. "...Is that real gold and silver?" "It is." Washu answered, "Does that help?" "Financially. But other then that, nothing." "Well, you should have it, anyway." She handed it to me, and as I was getting ready to put it on my neck, I felt something. "Whoa..." "What is it?" Sasami asked. "I feel, a lot more comforted now that I have this. Almost, like I'm complete or something." "Well, anything that was in there anyway was destroyed in the fire. It looks like a powerful blast came in from right behind where the person would sit." Washu had her hand on her chin, doing the calculations. "Do you think you might have been in a battle of some kind?"

_Farewell, dragon._ I shook. _Wh-what was that? __Who__ was that..._"Did I hit something?" "No... No not yet Washu. It's all too fuzzy. This is all happening way too fast, I-I need time to think." Kiyone smiled. "Well, we'll try to make you as comfortable as possible 'till you're yourself again." I was getting ready to say thank you, when Ryoko chimed in. "Oh, he won't be here. At least that's what he said." Kiyone made a face, and Mihoshi gasped. "You're going to wander the streets in your condition?" Sasami's eyes began to fill up. "He says he doesn't want to be a burden..." It was then, that I made up my mind.

All of those concerned faces, meeting Kiyone-not to mention Sasami's cooking-all made me want to stay with every fiber of my being. But I also didn't want to inconvenience the girls. So I thought up a middle ground. "Alright already, you guys win, I'll stay. But under one condition." Ayeka raised an eyebrow. "You're giving us conditions, about you staying in our house?" "A condition. That I be put to work. I want to earn my keep. House work, errands, you name it, and it's done." They weren't expecting that.

"Um, okay..."Ayeka shrugged, and the other girls all agreed. As I smiled, knowing that I'd probably be a big help around the house, Washu said above the other voices-in a forced innocent sounding voice- "Ya knooow, it really wouldn't have mattered what you wanted anyway." "Hm? How so?" She got closer. "There was no way I'd let such a valuable guinea pig like you just walk away without so much as a struggle!" I stepped back, and felt my face turn red. "G-g-guinea pig? W-wh-what do you-?" She pointed. "That hard head of yours." I scratched it. "My dome?" "Precisely.

"See, the impact from whatever it was that took your memory away, not to mention blood loss would've killed any other human. But all you did was sleep it off for a week. So, I'm curious to find out just how you were able to do that." Desperate to NOT be a test subject for God knows what, I came up with "Maybe it was luck? Heh, not even science can tell-" She just started cackling out loud to herself. "Huh. Looking back," Ryoko said, very nonchalantly "maybe getting outta here while you could wasn't such a bad idea." I gave her dagger eyes. "What? Just sayin."

Then, there was a gurgling, almost painful roaring sound. Before the girls could question it, I asked "Hey Sasami, do you have any more of that soup from earlier?" "Yes, I made a lot." "Awesome." And again, down I went. I didn't want to be carried, but I didn't have the strength to argue about it. I don't think that it mattered much to Ryoko-she had me on her shoulder with one arm. Now, I wouldn't say I'm a giant, but I'm pretty big. Taking this into consideration, I came up with a conclusion. _There's definitely something different about these girls._ _UGH!_ She plopped my on the couch.

"Ryoko! At least pretend to be delicate once in a while!" Ayeka fumed. "I didn't see you offer to help little miss Ogre Princess!" "GAH! WHY YOU!" "Eeeasy you two," said Kiyone trying to keep the peace. "If you're going to fight, take it somewhere else." As all that drama was happening, something dawned on me. _Wait, did she call her the princess __of__ ogres, or..._but unfortunately, even my brain was hungry, and I couldn't finish the thought. **I WANTS MAH FEWD!** _Dammit! I know I know! Be patient. _Sasami coming out with a tray of food was a sight for starving eyes. "I hope this is enough."

"Hey, I'm not gonna have a billion helpings of someone else's food just for something as dumb as "needing nourishment." I had fourths. "Well, I'm officially ashamed of myself." "You should be on a feeding tube right now," Washu said motioning for Sasami to get me more "But I figured waking up on a couch would be more comforting than a lab." I was getting ready to take another bite, when that sunk in. "Lab? As in science and experiments?" She smiled her goofy smile again. "I sure do! Wanna see?" All the other girls were mouthing "NOOOOOOO!" But I didn't have anything better to do, so I just shrugged.

"Cool." They did a "face-palm" in unison. "Alright! Follow me please." As I started to follow Washu, I looked back and shrugged. "Well, he's dead." Kiyone said, while the others nodded. "Even so, we'd better follow them." Ayeka said reluctantly. Washu and I came up to a door underneath a staircase. "Viola'!" I stared. "Very low key." "Silly; why should the door be fancy? It's what's inside that counts." "Just like people." Washu opened the door, to reveal a giant, futuristic-and definitely weird looking-well, lab. "Whoooaaaaa, you weren't kidding."

"Of course I wasn't silly. Now," She took out something with a lot of buttons on it "Time to get started." "On whaAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH-oof!" Out of nowhere, I was grabbed by a bunch of mechanical arms, and thrown and strapped onto a metal table. Oh, at first I was definitely freaking, but once I stopped took a deep breath, and examined the situation, I said "Pfft. 'No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!' Ah hah ha, ha haha... You're not gonna kill me, right?" "After going through the trouble of keeping you alive? That would just be a waste." "Well, I guess that's true-wait..."

"This is when it gets interesting." "Interesting, how?" A bunch of suction cup looking thing landed on me. "...Ah." "Just running a diagnostic. Seeing what's damaged, or not working right." "Or working awesome, right?" I was expecting her usual goofy smile, or boasting, but instead she looked at me with a very "different" smile. "Of course..." I blinked, and gulped a little. _Whoa..._It was around this time that the other girls got there. "Really Miss Washu?" Ayeka questioned. "Is all that necessary?"

"Most of it. Now, here we go!" "Hey hey hey, most of-" BZZZT And I was out. ...Again. "Careful..." Kiyone sounded concerned. "Oh, he's fine. Now, to see what's locked up in that head of his." She started typing on a giant computer while the screen started to flash. "Ah ha! We're getting something." Sasami saw it first. "It's him!" Ryoko: "What's he doing?" I was definitely on the screen alright. Mihoshi laughed. "He's dancing!" There I was, just dancing to-what they didn't know at the time-the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song.

"Wow," Washu said sort of shocked, sort of amazed. "How hard did his head get nailed? Wait, is that-a banner!" She scrolled the camera up (somehow. Hey, she's the genius, I'm sure she knows how it works) and there was a banner over my head that Ryoko read aloud. "'Anthony, is, invited?' To what?" Ayeka gave it some thought. "Hm, he may have been on his way to something when he-wait, Anthony? ANTHONY! That's his name!" There was a silence, mostly due to the fact that that wasn't as big as a reveal as they thought it would be, but also slightly due to my "supah-fresh-moves".

"Well, he looks happy." Mihoshi said, sounding like she was saying something ore important than she was "And that's what's important." "Normally, yes." Washu nodded. "Buuut, let's see what happens when we probe a little deeper!" "Miss Washu," Ayeka whispered into her ear "do you think that's safe?" She shrugged. "Beats me. Here we go!" On the screen, more suction cup-things got stuck to that me, and then he was out. "Really?" Kiyone put her hands on her hips. "Well, how else am I supposed to do it? Sshh, something's coming up."

Washu didn't know, but it'd be quite a few "somethings". None of them clear, but voices came though crystal. A lighter voice: "I've made my decision. I'm not going to fight for just myself." Unknown female voice: "Do we... ...have the right..." Male voice: "Of course sis! Everyone has the right to live, happy and free. And Ant will give us ours!" "Oh, no pressure there..." It went static again for a few seconds, but then it became a lot clearer. From what looked like first person perspective, someone with a sword appeared to be wiping out a few dozen androids.

"A battlefield..." Ayeka said with a sigh. "Wow! He's just plowing through these guys!" said Ryoko, with a smile. "Never again..." It was definitely my voice, just a bit younger. "It's my burden, no one else will ever be hurt because of me!" "Not bad kid. But let us handle it from here." Someone with long blonde hair said as he pat me on the shoulder. "We're professionals." He was with three other guys, one being a giant. "But... but I..." And it faded again. "It's a pretty bad case." Washu said still typing. "These are some of only a few memories that I can find that can actually be displayed.

The rest are, well, too fragmented." "It looks like there's one more though." Kiyone told her. And she was right. The screen unscrambled to reveal a face in a puddle. It must have been mine, since this was in first person perspective. But the bloody shape I was in wasn't a pretty sight. "Oh my." Sasami gasped. Unknown voice: "Stand! Stand and FIGHT!" "Tch!" It was the same blonde guy, and he looked just as hurt. "Of course. I said it didn't I? This has to end!" As our swords were raised, it scrambled again, then went black.


	4. Goes Great With a Boomstick

"Wow..." Mihoshi was the only one not completely taken aback. "A mystery..." "That's putting lightly Mihoshi." Kiyone said with a sigh. "Hmm," Washu had her hand on her chin "Certainly weren't any answers in there-other than what to call him. But to think that something hit him with enough force that he'd even feel it, let alone cause amnesia..." Ryoko laughed. "How powerful is he that you think he wouldn't have gotten hurt during that crash?" "He wasn't hurt during the crash." They gasped a little. "Waddya talkin' about ma? Isn't that why his head's empty?" Ayeka wanted soooo bad to go off on Ryoko just then, for her insensitivity, but held back to hear Washu's explanation.

"From the trajectory of the fall, there was no way that something should have should have had the velocity to hurt him as much as he was. Whatever, happened, happened in-flight. Now, the question is whether or not we keep him, since he could have enemies. Show of hands?" The girls looked at each other, and the first to raise a hand: was Kiyone. "Regardless of what or who he was before, he's a nice person, who offered himself in terrible condition! We shouldn't turn him away!" Mihoshi raised hers. "If Kiyone says yes, then I say yes too!"

Sasami stepped forward. "Kiyone's right. He IS a good person, I can tell! And he needs our help!" "Yes Sasami," Ayeka patted her on the head. "As members of Jurai's royal family, we mustn't turn away someone in need. ...Well Ryoko?" "Hm, me? Hell, if he wants to be put work, I say let 'em work. Makes my life easier." She got dagger eyes. "What?" "And good research material at that!" Washu's eyes lit up. "Then it's unanimous! Anthony stays!" *sniff* they blinked, realizing that it wasn't one of them who sniffed; they were sort of surprised when I sat up.

"J-jeez you guys..." I was wiping tears. "I'll be in your debt forever. Thank you." "Don't thank us yet! There's cleaning to be done!" Ryoko patted me-pretty hard-on the back. "Oh, uh, sure thing. The first thing I'll do is help out with the damage to your ship." I said while turning to Kiyone, who turned a little red. "H-hey now, that's going a little far, isn't it?" I jumped off the table and started walking. "Noooot listeniiiiing." I walked out of the lab with my fingers in my ears, and searched for the door-which Sasami pointed out. "Front door? Over there." "Ah, thanks."

"Um, how long were you awake back there, Mister-" "Please, Ayeka, just call me Ant." She blushed. "Oh, so informal! V-very well, Ant, wh-" Ryoko whispered in her ear "Turning up the snobby-ness, are we? OW!" She stepped on her foot. "Oooh, you!" "Whoa, check out that lake! Awesome! And-whoa... That," I pointed "is a spaceship." I was referring to the Yagami, Kiyone and Mihoshi's ship. "That it is." Kiyone said with a smile. ...Until she saw all the dents Mihoshi caused, then sighed. "And you guys are like what, space cops or something?" "We sure are!" "Mihoshi!" Kiyone corrected, "We're Galaxy Police Officers, not just some space cops!"

"Because they're just the grunts, right?" I only meant it as a joke. "Lower. Ugh, if I have to go back down to-" "I was kidding. Jeez, I was kidding." Kiyone blushed. "Oh, right..." I smiled. _A little high-strung, but I bet I can at least make her laugh. Although, as long Mihoshi's around, all she does is sigh. That can't be good._ "So, still think you can fix it?" Washu had her hands on her hips, feeling pretty victorious. "Eh, gimme a hammer, some duct-tape, and a chainsaw." She was surprised to hear that last one. "You really think you'll need a chainsaw?" "Of course. It's a chainsaw. They're AWESOME!" As sweatdrops began to form, I had to dismiss it. "Alright, fine, never mind. Yeesh."

While I was trying to climb in, Kiyone was having second thoughts. "Not sure if I should stop him." "Can it get any more damaged?" Ryoko asked with her hands behind her head. "*Sigh* only if Mihoshi gets a hold of it." "Ack, can't get up. Hey, you mind if there are footprints on it?" "As if it mattered..." "Alrighty then." "But, I thought you couldn't get-" I jumped up to the top of the Yagami at what must have been a pretty high speed-what with the looks they were giving me, and all-and lightly landed on top. "Personally, dented or no, I couldn't just let someone walk around on top of my super awesome spaceship. ...I think. I don't even remember mine. ...What?"

Washu whistled. "Impressive for an Earthling. Oohh, the experiments that are to come!" "Well, he will definitely be a great help around the house, it seems." Ayeka sounded impressed. "Seriously, speak up; can't hear you guys from down there." "I guess I should set up Tenchi's old room." "SASAMI! We shall do no such thing with my dear Tenchi's room!" "Sorry Ayeka-" "Wait, I just heard 'your Tenchi', didn't I Ayeka!" She covered her mouth while she laughed. "Only because it's true, of course." "Oh that's it!" As I watched them fight, all I could do was look down and stare.

"Hmm... Maybe repaying my debt'll be, pretty interesting." Until Ryoko began firing bolts of lightning all over the place, just to have them be reflected by a barrier Ayeka summoned. "Hazardous to my health, but interesting none the less. Whoa! ...That one almost got me." I was so busy watching the fireworks, I didn't notice Kiyone walk up the step ladder (which was on the other side of the ship-hence me not using it) and stand next to me. "Are you sure you're going to be o.k. here? It can get pretty crazy."

I sighed, looking down on the others with my arms crossed. "Crazy's alright. It's better than boring, anyway." She sat down. "I envy that. I'm usually pretty uncomfortable in situations like this. "Don't be." I followed suite. "Keeping a cool head when the you-know-what hits the fan's pretty special to me." She blushed. "O-oh, you, think so?" "Uh! W-well, what I-uh, meant was, um..." "Alright! That's it Princess!" Ryoko was airborne (I didn't question it) and had what looked like a red ball of energy in her hand. "I've had about enough of your attitude!" "Hmph. As if an ogre woman such as yourself could hope to defeat me!"

"No! Stop it you two right now!" In what I could only call Mihoshi's best attempt to break them up, she grabbed Ayeka, sobbing. "M-Mihoshi! Get off this instant!" "Ah hah! Perfect!" Ryoko sent her shot flying, but since Ayeka was a bit, "distracted", the reflection didn't exactly go in the direction it was supposed to. Instead, it went soaring right toward the Yagami. Not that Kiyone or I noticed. "So, you and Mihoshi are cops of some kind-?" *BLAM* "AAHH!" "HOLY-!" It wobbled back and forth only a few times, but it was still enough to send us falling to the ground.

"Oh no! Kiyone!" "Darn it Mihoshi! Look what you made me do! You and that devil woman!" "Hey! Mihoshi jumped on you didn't she? You're the one-" "SAVE THEM YOU NUMBSKULLS!" Washu screamed. As we fell, the thoughts going through our heads, were very different. _Aahh, crap._ I sighed. _I just hope I don't land on my head. __Again._ Kiyone's, on the other hand, were pretty audible. "AAAAHHHH! I don't wanna die like thiiiiiiis!" I didn't see her face of not fear, but exasperation. I didn't hear tone of voice; more aggravated than scared. Nor was I even aware Ayeka and Ryoko already moving to catch us.

My eyes simply widened, and my mind responded on it's own. I saw through my still murky mind's eye what looked like part of a battlefield, and people kneeling around someone on the ground. _"I'm sorry... I didn't, want to, die... like... this..."_ Too many emotions came over me to count, and my body acted without thinking, and I landed perfectly on my feet, with Kiyone in my arms. The girls were in shock. "Whoa..." "What do you mean 'whoa'?" Washu asked sounding really concerned. "YOU'RE the one who did it!" "Huh, yeah, I-oh, hang on."

I put Kiyone on her feet. "Are you alright?" "Yeah... thanks to you." _*sigh* He could've waited a little longer to put me down... _"Ki-yooone!" Sasami chimed, "Your face is red!" "O-of course! That was a long drop you know." Amongst all the jokes and the talk, Washu was thinking-more so than usual. _With his abilities, he must have been involved with some dangerous people. If whomever put him in this condition finds out he survived, it could mean trouble. The smartest move would be to send him on his way, but..._

She saw an image of a teenage boy, smiling and scratching the back of his head. _*Sigh* Tenchi... You took __us__ in without even having to think about it. To turn him away now..._ She saw us all talking and laughing. _We don't have the right._ "So Mr. hero," she asked walking up to me with her hands on her hips. "You're staying?" I nodded. "Just until my head unclogs, yeah." "...o.k.," She handed me a piece of paper. "here's a list of chores you'll be taking on. There's cleaning the gutters, windows, the rooms, doing the laundry, shopping-Sasami makes the food, so don't worry about that, but then there's..."

The more she brought up, the more wide my eyes got, until they started twitching. And at the end, I just sighed. "Can I make just one, simple request?" "And what would that be?" "No goofy outfits while I'm working, okay?" Ayeka waved her hands in a "get outta here" motion to Mihoshi-who was holding a maid outfit. "Awww..." she went back in the house, slumped. "I think that can be arranged." "Well then, I'll get started." I folded up my chore paper, and went back in the house to get started.

"Um, miss Washu?" Ayeka asked. "There's something I forgot to tell you." "Oohh? And what would that be Princess?" "That this is a house of four women-Sasami's just a girl, and calling Ryoko a woman is an insult to a whole gender," Ryoko flipped her off "and now you're letting-" "Stop. I know where you're going with this little line of questioning, and think about it. Has he shown any signs of that kind of behavior?" "W-well, no-" "If anything, I'm worried about you!" She had her finger in Ayeka's face. "Me? That's absurd!"

"Well, he does sorta remind me of Tenchi, and he moved to Tokyo a while ago-" Ayeka gasped. "How dare-? You know my heart only beats for my beloved Ten-" "And you too!" Ryoko jumped. "M-me? Why me?" Washu pointed to her eyes, then at them, and walked away. As Ayeka and Ryoko were left with their jaws hanging, the other girls walked back in the house. _So he really is staying..._ Kiyone thought with a smile. _I __guess__ having him around won't be so bad._ "Oh no Kiyone," Mihoshi said sounding worried "your face is so red! Are you feeling alright?"


	5. And brudda, I hurt people

As I went over my "to do" list, I tried to narrow down which would be easier at the time. "Gutters? Nah, I just walked back in. Laundry? Too early. Dishes? Huh, I guess I-oh come on!" The girls were walking in at the time of my complaint. "What's the matter?" Ayeka asked with genuine concern. "You guys had a second to do list for me? I just woke up!" "A second...? Let me see... ...! This is-!" "Oohh yeah, I forgot about that." Washu said "I had Ryoko write that for us, for today." I picked it up out of curiosity, and read it aloud.

"One: check to see if the sleeping guy woke up yet. Nice." She sighed. "Two: have Sasami get started on the soup early, for the trip." At this point everyone was back in the house, and just coming back in the living room. "Three: buy something nice for Tenchi, so he forgets about Aye-" "Gimme that!" Ryoko snatched it from me and shoved it in her pocket. "Reading someone's personal notes isn't cool." "I thought that was for all of you-?" "You sneaky little charlatan!" Ayeka shrieked. "You thought you could sway my Tenchi's heart with bribes?"

"Well, it's really a gift. I-hey! You said "your Tenchi" again!" She turned, and raised her sleeve to her mouth. "I simply thought that one as lowly as you would finally understand the truth through repetition." "Grrrr! My fist'll use repetition on your face-!" "You keep saying this dude's name," I interrupted, my eyes still on the page "who is he anyway?" Ayeka and Ryoko froze, Mihoshi, Kiyone and Sasami giggled, while Washu broke out into full-blown hysterics. "Wh-what? What? Oh, Oooohhhh, I get it." I popped my collar. "I must be Tenchi, right?"

Now they were all almost crying. I sighed. "Yeah, I figured it was too good to be true." That got me some evil looks. "J-just sayin'..." "It was originally Tenchi and his father who lived here," Washu explained "he took us all in when we had nowhere to go." "But," Kiyone said as she regained her composure "His father got his own place with a co-worker, and Tenchi moved to Tokyo." I nodded. "Hmm... What's his father do?" She blinked a few times. "He's, an architect. Why?" "No reason, just that you brought it up, so I figured I'd ask. He make anything famous?"

"Well, he did design some buildings for corporations in the big cities." "Sweet." As we all started talking about Tenchi's father-who's name I came to find out was Nobuyuki-I gave the girls list another read through. "You guys have plans to go visit this guy?" "Oh, no no." Ayeka said politely-she didn't want to disrespect Nobuyuki- "We have plans to visit Tenchi today." Then... came silence. The kind of silence that only comes from three different things. Seeing something so amazing, so filled with awesome that it leaves you speechless, finding out the love of your life loves you back, and the third thing-which was happening now: Something HUGE dawning on you.

"WE HAVE TO BE AT TENCHI'S IN A FEW HOURS!" I sat down on the couch-out of the way-as the house went into an uproar. There was so much craziness, that I didn't notice-what I thought at the time-was an adorable little gray thing yawn, scratch it's ear, and sit down next to me. I only noticed when it got curious and started to sniff me. "Huh? Wh-oh! Hey there little-um, cat, thing. What's your name?" "Meow!" It raised it's paw happily, as if it understood me, but I couldn't say the same. "...I doubt it's meow, but..." Sasami saw me talking to it, and stopped.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ryo-ohki, did we wake you up?" It jumped into Sasami's hands, and then on her head. "Ryo-ohki, huh?" "Yup! Isn't she adorable?" "Adorable does come to mind." "C'mon Ryo-ohki, let's get your breakfast. I made some especially good carrots today." "Meow-meow!" It was only as she walked away, did I think: _Huh. Wonder what that __was._ After a few minutes of twiddling my thumbs, I got bold. "Hey, Washu?" "Hm? What is it?" "You think I could, um, if it's-" "Here." She gave me a train ticket. "This was for if you happened to wake up today."

I could feel my eyes widening. "I'm touched. I already like this Tenchi guy." "He said that it wouldn't be right for you to be left alone, so this way you'd be kept company, and get to see Tokyo. He really is a kind, and thoughtful person." "Not to mention an awesome one!" Washu blinked a few times, at the way I said that. "Anything I could do to help you guys get ready?" "Actually," I heard Sasami's voice calling from upstairs. "I could use your help with my suitcase please." _Awww._ I thought. _Poor thing. She probably just can't reach something, or lift something heavy._ I was wrong.

"Wh-what the?" She was standing on it, and jumping. "Can you close this for me?" Ryo-ohki was trying to close it from the hatch, but went flying when it sprung open. "Whoa! Gotcha." I caught her by reaching up as far as I could. "You okay?" "Me-yow!" She jumped down and went back over to Sasami. "Time for some muscle, huh?" "If it's okay with you..." I stepped up to it, cracked my neck by stretching it left and right, and braced myself. "Alright, just let me-hurk!" I pushed, but it didn't move. "..." " I shoved a few more times, but still nothing. "Didn't want to do this, but it MADE me! Sasami!" "Y-yes?" "Do you guys have a baseball bat, or something like that?"

"We have this. We use it to air out the blankets on the clothes-line." I looked it over and shrugged. "Guess this'll do." "Um, do for wh-?" "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" I screamed I as jumped off the wall, and brought down the laundry-stick down onto the suitcase. At the moment of impact, the house shook just a bit, and my voice could be overheard with a resounding "BONK!"* Sasami was still twitching, from the shock of it all as I adjusted myself. "There we go. All set." I pet Ryo-ohki on the head, and went back downstairs. I didn't notice the girls staring from their respective rooms, but instead just sat back on the couch and said to myself "Huh. I wonder how I did that."

*Cookies for those who get that joke. -Author


	6. Turnabout at the Station

I didn't expect the house to be so far away from the rest of civilization. I really didn't mind the long walk-except for all of the bags I was carrying. "So..." I gasped "Do you always travel with a hundred bricks, or is this a special occasion?" "Well, you did offer to with our things." Ayeka said carrying just a purse." "I made that offer to everyone. All I'm carrying are your things." "That's because I have more to carry." "And I wonder why that is?" She stopped, and I could tell her eye was twitching. "...What?" See, I was catching on to Ayeka. She may act prim and proper most of the time, but every one in a while-what I thought at the time was-her true self comes out.

"If I opened one of these right now, I'd find only the bare essentials, correct?" The look on Ryoko's face was priceless. "Well, Ayeka?" "Mmmph! Fine! You can open one bag, and if you find anything but clothes, soap and a toothbrush, you don't get to talk for the rest of the trip." I gulped. Kiyone whispered, "Is this a risk worth taking?" I whispered back "Not really, but some lessons just have to be learned." I put her stuff down, and thought carefully. If I was right, a great burden would be lifted from me-physically, anyway. But if I was wrong... "Hmm... ...ha!" I made my choice.

I put the biggest one down, and unzipped it slowly. "GYAH!" There was a slight silence, until Washu questioned "'Gyah?'" "I, um, uh," Ayeka started to sweat. "What's wrong? Wh-what did you find?" "There are some, well-" "SHOW ME!" Ayeka said, with a hint of fear in her voice. "Uh, not sure if should be touching these..." Her face lit up like a cherry as I reached for its contents. She zipped up the open bag, and snatched the other ones REAL quick. "Come on! We're already running late!"

We just stood there and stared for about a minute until we resumed our march. "So, tell me, just between us," Kiyone whispered to me "what'd you find?" I still looked shocked. "You sure?" She nodded. "Well," I closed my eyes, and brought my lips just next to Kiyone's face, which blushed a bit. "Wh-wha-?" "A blanket." There was a silence as the breeze blew through her hair. "...What?" "Yeah. I gambled that I could bluff my way out, and it paid off." "So then, in one of her bags...!" "I can only imagine." "Ha ha, yeah." ...

"Just what are you imagining anyway?" She had my ear, and was pulling it as she walked. ""YEOUCH! I-it was joke Kiyone! C'mon!" "You have more bags to carry." And carry them I did, all the way to the station. "Hey, Mihoshi?" "Hm? Yes?" "Are my arms still attached?" "Yes, why?" "Had to check. Can't feel 'em." And I sat on a bench to get my strength back. "So Washu," Kiyone asked over her Washu's shoulder. "The train schedule. Ours doesn't come for another few minutes, but it says that the new Super Bullet Train is supposed to be passing through this station any minute now."

Sasami got excited. "Oh wow! It's supposed to be the fastest train in the world." "Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing that." As I got up, Ryoko added, "Well, if it's the fastest..." And walked over with us. We stood there for about a minute, until Washu pointed and said, "Here it comes!" She took out a special camera, as we braced ourselves for one sweet train. All we got however, was a giant gust of wind that almost knocked us off the platform. "YEOW!" I yelled as I regained my composure "What the hell?" "Was that what I think it was?" Ayeka asked Washu. "Take a look for yourself."

So we did. She caught the cause of the "air-blast": the train. Everyone on board looked terrified-even the conductor, and were holding on to the tops of the seats, legs flying in the air behind them. We just stared of in the direction it sped off to, until I broke the silence. "I have GOT to try that out." "Definitely." Ryoko agreed. It was around then, that our train pulled up. As we got on, I could distinctly overhear the conductor saying "Damn that Hakudo, why'd they pick him to drive that?" I leaned in. "Dude, if you saw what it was doing to him, you'd be a lot happier.

I left him with that. It wasn't too crowded, but I still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Waaay too many random people "up-in-my-business". Until I turned and saw: A baby. "Awww! Hey there little dude." He must've still been "new"; he was slowly taking in everything around him, and registering it in his tiny brain. Kiyone heard me say that, but didn't see the baby at first, which needless to say was kinda creepy. But, like most of life's situations, a baby makes things better. "H-he's adorable!"

The mom blushed out of embarrassment. "Oh, my! Thank you for your kind words about my son." "What's his name?" Our smiles were ear-to-ear. "Hukurou*. Isn't it beautiful?" We were still smiling, even when I said "Really?" Kiyone was getting ready to elbow me in the side, until I finished. "Because I think it's also really cool." They both blinked, and asked, "Cool?" The baby giggled, so he must've thought so too. "Take care of yourself little guy. It was nice to meet you maim." "Likewise." She told us with a smile as we walked away.

"That was fun." Kiyone said as we got back with the others." "Yeah. It's the random, unexpected good things in life that really complete a day, ya know?" We didn't see, that about fifteen feet away, were two guys wearing "sick masks" and sunglasses, muttering to themselves. "Heh, you, your baby, and that HUSBAND of yours'll be either dead or in the poor house!" "Shut up you idiot!" It was then that I got a baaaaad feeling, but I didn't know why. "Is there something wrong?" Ayeka asked me. It must have been written all over my face. "Nah, just kinda nervous, I guess." "Don't worry, once you meet Tenchi and see the sights, I'm sure it will pass."

"I sure hope so. The sights sound sweet." As I was saying that, Tokyo Tower was clearly visible out of the window behind me-but I missed it. As we were all stepping off of the train once we arrived, I was bracing myself to get all those bags again, and since Washu said that the walk would be harder than the last. "The problem isn't distance," she said with closed eyes and a pointed finger, "it'll just seem longer since you'll be moving much slower through all the people." When the lady passed us, and saw me turning into a human pack-mule. "Oh, hello again."

"Anthony, do you know this woman?" "We met on the train." Kiyone vouched. "I wanted to wish you well on your journey." She bowed, and Hukurou laughed. "Well that's formal." I started scratching my head. "Thank you. Take of your-" It all happened in a second. Not one of us saw it coming. The same two thugs I mentioned before bumped her, and grabbed her purse. But what-I can only assume they didn't plan-this caused little Hukurou to come out of her hands. For a milli-second, we were overcome with absolute fear.

But Kiyone, being the great cop that she was, was the first to respond by catching him. "Whoa! That was too close..." "Great catch Kiyone!" Mihoshi said with due excitement. They were relieved. I on the other hand, was infuriated almost to the point that it hurt. With gritted teeth, I reached for the nearest, hardest thing I could find, and threw it as hard as I could-my gold chain. I didn't expect for it to even hit them, let alone stop them. Instead, it nailed the guy holding the purse right in the back of the head, knocking him about four or five feet forward.

"Dirigere il successo!*" I said with a smile and a clenched fist. "He really got him..." Ayeka gasped. "Such force!" Ryoko whistled. "What language was that?" Mihoshi puzzled as I ran to retrieve the purse. "Holy crap! Tani! Wake up! Say something! Grrr... this punk!" As he was getting up, he noticed a grade school boy in the crowd with his parents had a baseball bat with him. "Perfect... Gimme that you little brat!" As he was trying to take it away from them, I waved. "I got it!" "Turn around!" Washu yelled. "Do what now?"

Suddenly, with a loud crack, there were wooden bat splinters everywhere. "AH! DOUCHE!" I spun around and delivered a backhand that span him three times in the air before he hit the ground. "If I get ONE splinter-!" "Ant!" Kiyone called as the girls came running over, while Sasami and Mihoshi comforted the boy whose bat was taken. "Are you alright?" "Poor kid... My stupid thick head broke his bat-" "Answer me!" I felt how she said that as much as I heard it. _"K-Kiyone..."_ "Yeah... I'm alright."

"Oh, my..." Ryoko noticed the way Ayeka said that, and the mischievous look on her face."...What?" "Oh, just something I'm going to have to look into a bit more." "Whatever, weirdo." Station security finally showed up to deal with the now unconscious thugs, as the lady clutching her baby came over to me, her eyes filling up. "Oh, thank you so much!" "Happy to help." I said as I was brushing bat-dust out of my hair. "I just have to repay you some how!" "Honestly, experiencing a semi-super hero moment like that is it's own reward."

But she wasn't listening. "My name's Zuma Koi*. I was on my way to see my visit my husband at work, and deliver some docu-er, things from home, to his office. I'm sure he'll be able to reward you very well. Here's his card." Sasami gasped as I took the card. "Oh! We couldn't!" "She's right," The girls couldn't see my eyes, as I had my head looking away, but they definitely took notice of my smirk. "especially since... that's not why she wants me to go with her." Kiyone and the others blinked a few times, but I saw Mrs. Koi twitch.

"Wh-what do you mean?" "I'm saying that there were an awful lot of easier targets for theft on that train, but yet they took a gigantic risk in trying to steal from someone who had a baby of all-adorable-things. I wonder why that is?" "Logically speaking," Kiyone said with crossed arms, "it would actually make her easier to steal from." "That's not quite the risk I meant." "Huh?" "Seven." "Seven?" Ryoko asked. "There are seven of us here in total. Why would they take such a chance knowing they could be caught in an instant? Makes you wonder just what's in that purse that's so valuable."

"O-of course the contents are valuable, they're my possessions! They had to have been normal thieves!" "Judging from how hard that guy swung at me, I'd say he makes a living hitting people with bats and the like." She let out an audible "Urk!" "Tell me Mrs. Koi, just what are you planning to deliver to your husband's office today?" Now she was visually a wreck. "J-just some, papers that he left at home-" "That's enough!" Ayeka demanded. "Just what do you hope to gain by harassing this poor woman?"

"The truth." My gaze was un-breaking, making Ayeka jump a bit. "Now Mrs. Koi, are you ready to tell me the real-" "_P-proof..."_She whispered. "Huh?" "Proof. Do you have any evidence that proves that these people may have had a reason to steal from me?" "That's impossible. No one knows how or why random thugs operate." Kiyone said with a bit of disgust, since the topic was criminals. "She's right Ant." Washu said, abbreviating my name. "If you're so sure about this theory of yours, then you should only need **one chance** to prove that you're right. Otherwise you owe her an apology."

"Yeah, I would. ...if I wasn't right. Mrs. Koi, the evidence that you asked for... is right here!" *breaks off into two screens, one showing my possessions.* *Mr. Koi's business card selected* "TAKE THAT!" Everybody jumped. "Wh-what was that yell for you dummy?" Washu said while I ignored her, and Mrs. Koi drooped to her knees. Little Hukurou looked concerned. "So... you figured it out..." "It says your husband, Mr. Seijito* Koi, is the CEO of a security company. If that doesn't make him a living target, then not much will." I knelt down to try to look her in the eyes. "Now Mrs. Koi-I'd like the truth please." "...Very well... You win young man. I'll tell you everything.

*Sound of lock shattering*

Author's notes: Koi Zuma comes from the Japanese translation of "Loving wife," while Seijito comes from "seijitu na otto", meaning sincere husband. Dirigere il successo is Italian for direct hit, and the last two paragraphs are my own little tribute to the Phoenix Wright series.


	7. Not so Young in Spirit

"It's like you said," Mrs. Koi explained in the station lobby (after I moved all the bags inside-Waaay to much work to only move them about ten feet), "I'm carrying very important papers right now. If processed, they could put a lot of high ranking crime bosses in jail." We gasped. "Jeez!" I side, eyes VERY wide, "This is a big deal!" "It's why I didn't want you to know." "Huh." I was scratching my chin "Might have pressed too hard that time." "THEN YOU GET A PENALTY!" Washu said as she wapped me on the head with a paper fan.

"I was kidding! Ouch..." "Anyway, how far is it from here to your husband's office?" Kiyone asked. "It's only about a fifteen minute walk. I thought it wasn't such a big deal, but, after what happened on the train..." She sounded like her spirit was breaking. "It's o.k. Mrs. Koi," Sasami said reassuringly "we'll help you, right everyone?" "Aagh!" Ryoko groaned, "At this rate we're never gonna get to Tenchi's!" "RYOKO! Now is not the time-although you do raise a valid argument..." "Sister!" Sasami said in shock. "W-well, just look at Ryo-Ohki! The poor thing."

She was in a pet carrier, looked kinda sad (I would be too, if I had to travel in something like that). "Meoooow..." I had to step in. "Look, don't worry about. I'll help out Mrs. Koi, you guys go see your friend." "But Tenchi was looking forward to seeing you now that you woke up." Mihoshi said, "And by yourself? You're still recovering mister!" "Recovering? Please! I feel excellent. If only someone would answer their cell phone! That ringing is driving me nuts." Everybody was looking at me funny. "...You guys don't hear that?" "How hard did that guy hit you?" Washu questioned.

"Ringing aside, that's what's happening. You ready Mrs. Koi?" "What energy!" She laughed happily as she held Hukurou and got her purse. "It's only about kilometer or so from here." "A kilometer? ...Um, Washu?" "A kilometer's shorter than a mile." "Thanks. See ya, everyone." As we were walking away, Ryoko asked. "Is that true?" "Yup. A miles longer." "Huh." There was a silence for a few seconds, until Ryoko added "Are we carrying our own stuff individually, or-" "Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?"

"Fine Kiyone, you're right." Washu sighed, "I can just transfer the luggage to a different dimension, and bring it back out at Tenchi's." "No, I meant-you could have done that the whole time?" "Well, I coouuld, but that wouldn't be very fun at all, now would it?" "...Anyway, I've decided to follow them." That got a few gasps. "But Kiyone," Sasami pleaded, "Tenchi said he got his whole house ready, just for us, with food and everything!" Ryo-ohki couldn't be seen, but her "Meow-meow!" was audible.

"Now now Sasami," Ayeka said-a little suspiciously, in my opinion, "if Kiyone is so adamant about it, we shouldn't stop her. She's trying to save someone from criminals, which is her job after all." "Wow, thanks Ayeka. Besides, I'm sure Tenchi will understand. I'll be back in a bit everybody." As she turned, Mihoshi called out "If it's police work, shouldn't I go with you Kiyone?" She stopped, and her eye twitched only once, but it was enough. "**OH GOD NOOO-**I mean, um... no thanks?" She couldn't tell if Mihoshi was thinking or not, since that, er, "absent" look of hers is always on her face. "O.k..."

_Phew, _Kiyone thought. _That was close. I should still be able to catch them-I'd better; I have no idea which direction they're-_She turned the first corner, and found: "Whoooaaaa... Awesome!" I interrupted, taking in the sights of the beautiful city of Tokyo. _…going._ "You guys are still here?" "Oh, we're simply sight seeing is all." Mrs. Koi said, smile still on her face. "Um, wouldn't it be better if you left the station first?" I blinked. "Wow you're smart." _I don't know whether to be flattered, or exasperated..._ Kiyone thought with a small sigh.

"Then again," I added, holding my chin, "the alternative would be looking like an idiot," I turned a bit, as to look at her from the corner of my eye, "in front of possibly thousands of people." Kiyone gasped a little, and was getting ready to apologize, when I responded nonchalantly "And THAT is what makes sight seeing fun! I'm outta here!" I ran out of the station, smiling ear to ear. "Ah, such youthful passion." Hukurou laughed as Mrs. Koi followed me. But Kiyone was still in thought. _What__was__that just now? Was he... testing me? ...Yeah he was;_ she sweat-dropped, _to see if I would second-guess it like this._ She smiled a little and followed us out.

Man, the trip was a-maze-ing. I saw a guy in a lizard outfit selling candy, two sumo wrestlers, a Shinto shrine with a tree that had a big mark in the middle of it, and what would soon become my favorite beverage: "Is... is this for real?" "Hm?" Kiyone looked at the item in the vending machine in question. "Eeww, who would drink this?" "Peanut butter cola. Oh, how interesting!" It was then that I knew Mrs. Koi was one who really enjoyed the world. I however, had an important decision to make. "..." "What is it Ant?" "... Can I borrow some-" "You're getting it?"

"I have to! I'm enthralled!" "Oh, fine. Just try to throw up in an alley or something so no one sees." I took a small sip. "..." Then a full sized drink. "..." Then I just started chugging it. "Y-you like it?" "What can I say? It goes down pretty smooth." "Anyway, Mrs. Koi, how much longer until-" "Oh, here we are." We tilted our heads as far back as we could. I spoke first. "This sky scraper?" "Hm? Sky scraper?" Mrs. Koi thought about it. "But a sky scraper is two-hundred floors. This is just one-hundred."

Kiyone and I looked at each other, and we could just tell what we were thinking: _"Uh, Kiyone? I get the feeling-" "Don't worry, I know all about working with a ditz. Trust me."_ I sighed, and rubbed the back of my neck. "Then I'll leave that to you." As I started walking to the building, Kiyone asked, "Then what will be your job?" with her hand on her hip. I stopped. "Protecting Mr. and Mrs. Koi, little Hukurou, and of course," I turned. "You." I started walking again, so I didn't see her blush for a second.

A second, because she could read me like a book. _"...He forgot I'm a cop, and can take care of myself, I'm sure of it."_ Five steps later, my shoulders slumped, Kiyone giggled and followed me in. The place was alright; there were quite a few people in the lobby alone, looking pretty darn busy. "Wow," Kiyone said looking around. "This is a pretty successful-" "No way..." "Hm? What is it Ant?" "That plaque... it reads 'The Koi family extends their gratitude to Mr. Nobuyuki Masaki for this wonderful place of business.' This place was designed by Tenchi's dad!" She whistled. "Well how about that."

"Ah, hello Mrs. Koi." The receptionist bowed with a smile. "Ah, hello Tomoe! I'm here to see my husband." "P-please maim, we've been over this! Please refer to me as Ms. Yoshine!" "Oh, yes of course. Silly me!" "Aww, you brought Hukurou to see his daddy! And some company?" "Ah, yes. This is, um..." "My name is Kiyone Makibi." "Mine is Anthony-!" I froze. _"Uh oh-I don't HAVE a last name! Well at least not yet. C'mon, think! Think!"_ "Anthony..." I looked around for random objects to put a name together like on TV shows, but I couldn't work with what I was given. Anthony Ball-point pen? That was just dumb.

Then, I saw Kiyone, and when I first saw her and mistook her for an angel. And that's when it hit me. "Benedetto." I said with a gentle smile. "Anthony Benedetto*." Kiyone's eyes widened, as Ms. Yoshine was talking. "Mr. Koi said that it was imperative that you saw him and the Vice-President as soon as possible." "I understand." We got into the elevator and pressed the "CEO" button. It wasn't that long of a trip, and eventually we were outside Mr. Koi's office. But before we were even inside, we could hear an argument that sounded so serious. Why? Let's find out.

"C'mon little brother! Be reasonable!" "I told you, I'm remaining adamant about this. Please, your blood pressure..." Kiyone and I locked wide-eyes again as Mrs. Koi sighed. "I see my brother-in-law is trying to-" I raised my hand. "Brother-in-law? Sorry, but this is getting a bit hard to follow, so I'll just get the story from them." I opened the door to see a large, stern looking man with his hands on the front of a desk, leaning over a-well, a frail looking man in glasses. His hair almost blocked his eyes, but it wasn't enough to cover his glasses.

"Ah! Zu-zu! Hukurou! You made it!" The scrawny guy ran over to Mrs. Koi as I mouthed to myself "Zu-zu?" "It's Mrs. Koi's first name-Zuma, remember?" "Oh yeah." "Yes. And these two kind people accompanied me." "We determined that it wasn't safe; what with the theft attempt and all." The big guy jumped, and Mr. Koi's glasses almost fell off his face as they shrieked "THEFT ATTEMPT?" "Sis, are you okay?" The big dude didn't look so tough right then. "Yes, thanks to Anthony." "Well, all I really did was beat the living snot out these two guys. Nothing major."

"I'm so sorry to trouble you," Mr. Koi said, bowing "thank you so much." I knew my face was getting pretty red. "S-seriously, it was nothing." "Anyway," Kiyone said, "I think it's time for some introductions. And the full story on what's going on here." So we took our seats in front of Mr. Koi's desk, while his brother-in-law and Mrs. Koi stood beside him as he took his. "As you already know, my name is Seijito Koi. This is my brother-in-law and Vice President, Zhang Yamahara." He was definitely on the tall side, so even when bowing he was about my height. "I can't thank you enough for keeping my little sister and nephew safe."

I was already embarrassed once, so I opted to take a different approach. "...Ha! It was nothing." Kiyone jumped. "Huh?" "Anyway, just tell me what's going on." "Right, of course." Mr. Koi said with a sigh. "I guess in my old age, I tend to lose track of things." _"Huh," _Kiyone thought, _"Mr. and Mrs. Koi always talk like they're in their sixties, but they look like they're just pushing thirty."_ I picked up on that too. "Z'at right? I gotta say, you look good for your age." I didn't know what his age actually was, but I knew I could get it out of him.

He rubbed the back of his head while his glasses slid down his face a bit. "Well, twenty-eight is definitely a rough year." I said what Kiyone and I were both thinking. "That's it?" "Ever since junior-high school, all those years ago, we've been inseparable." Mrs. Koi blushed. Mr. Yamahara cleared his throat anyway little brother, about our situation?" Mr. Koi sighed, fixed his glasses, and went into stern mode. "Very well. But first let me say that this information does not leave this room, is that clear?" We gulped. "C-crystal..." He sighed. "This all began about a month ago, at the Z TV broadcasting station..."


	8. A Series of Tubes

"We were asked to provide extra security for the station, due to some sketchy information being released to the public." I took that as is, but Kiyone went deeper. "What kind of information?" "Big stuff, most of it including the blackmailing of quite a few CEOs and political figures." "And they were just going to put on television on a whim? That's insane!" "No." Apparently, Mrs. Koi was taking the same serious pills as her husband. "What's insane was what lengths the yakuza went to retreive the information. Five cars full of gangsters armed to the teeth raided the station for the report, showing zero descrepancy to anyone who happened to be in front of them.

"Many innocent people, including some of our finest guards, didn't survive it..." Kiyone looked both mortified, and disgusted, while I was just in shock; the depth of the situation was way worse than I thought. "But they couldn't have gotten the report, right?" "They did not." Mr. Yamahara spoke out. "After about fifteen minutes, they had to withdraw before the police arrived. The station director was clutching it while hiding under his desk like a coward. If I were in his place, I-" "That's enough Zhang!" Mr. Koi snapped at him. "Grrr...! Hmph."

"As my brother-in-law was saying, in the end their attempt ended in failure. Afterwards, I decided that the report would be safer in our possession." "Isn't that pretty risky?" I asked. "Keeping it here in the building?" "That's not quite what I meant. It would be far too obvious to keep the report in the office. Therefore..." "You... brought it home with you?" Kiyone's eyes widened upon figuring that out. "...prescisely." "But! What about Hukurou? Surely you wouldn't put him in such-" "Hukurou was left with his aunt Mei untill today."

Mrs. Koi looked toward a family picture that was framed on the wall as she said that. The Kois were in it, smiling happily, but the other couple looked stone faced. "Your, wife?" Kiyone asked, to which Mr. Yamahara nodded. _"She's... handsome."_ Kiyone thought to herself. "So, why were you arguing when we walked in?" "Because they gave us an ultimatum: they threatened to kill my entire family, as well as burn this building to the ground," We gasped. "or give the list to them... with a twenty million bonus. Zhang is dead-set on resisting them until the bitter end, I however, am not so sure..."

Apparently Mrs. Koi didn't know that. "Seji!" "I know, it's wrong, but...-" "It isn't wrong for you to think that way Mr. Koi!" Kiyone said consolingly. "I mean, it's just money after-" "If that payment is met, we won't be able to pay our employees who stood by us so faithfully through all this." There was a painful silence, until my ten-odd minutes of information gathering came to a head. "Mr. Yamahara? Did every single person involved in the station raid escape? Or did the cops apprehend any?" He blinked a few times. "Some. Just under half actu-" "And how many got off?"

That got a few shocked faces. "..." "I thought so. Mr. Koi, I have just two, simple questions: do you have a digital camera, and where do these guys live?" That got even more. "There really is only one viable solution to this problem that I can see judging from what I've heard so far." Mr. Koi asked "And that is?" I chuckled. "The internet." A crow happened to be flying by the window just then, with his cackle sounding awfuly-insulting, for some reason*. "...I'm gonna have to explain a little deeper, huh?" They nodded.

But, as I was stating the obvious, the girls were just making it to Tenchi's house. "Say... Ayeka..." Mihoshi gasped "are you wrists feeling any better yet?" "Hm? My wrists? Oh! They, um, still ache from holding onto the handles during the train ride. It's a good thing you're a Galaxy Police Officer First-Class, or this would be quite the hassle." "Huh, you sure are right about that!" When Mihoshi's back was turned, however, Washu chimed in "Pretty coniving, don't you think?" Ayeka didn't even look back. "I know what you're insinuating Miss Washu, and for your information my wrists are indeed in quite a bit of discom-AAAAAH!!!"

Ryoko was trying to turn it. "Huh, looks like she's telling the truth." "Ryoko! That hurt!" "I'm sorry Princess, but I just had to make sure." "Are you alright Ayeka?" She sighed, and forced a polite face. "I'll be alright Sasami." "Heeeey! Girls!" "Ah! Tenchi!" Ryoko's eyes lit up as she ran to meet him while he walked over from his house. "Wow," he started to say, "it's great to see everyone aga-" "Ooohhh Tenchi!" Ryoko hugged him in mid-air, swinging around on his neck. "I missed you soooo much!" "ACK! Ryoko!"

"Ryoko! Stop bothering Tenchi like that! I can only imagine what a wonderful day he must have been having before you burdened him with your unsightly presence!" "Hm? What's that Ayeka? You're saying that with your bum wrists, you can't stop me from doing whatever I want with Tenchi? Why, that's true isn't it?" While they were at it again: "So, how was the trip?" Tenchi asked as he, Washu, Mihoshi, Ryo-Ohki and Sasami went in the house. "Actually, that's what we wanted to talk to you about." "Hm? Wasn't Kiyone coming? And what about the one who was in that accident? Did something happen?"

Washu sighed. "Looks like I have quite a story to tell..." And tell she did; in the same way I told Kiyone, Mr. Yamahara, and Mr. and Mrs. Koi about-what I called at the time-Operation Go for Broke. "Named after our all-or-nothing situation." "Why not just call it All-or-Nothing?" "Too cliche'd." "You have a point. But how is the internet going to help us?" "Well, you want to make this information public, right?" "The blackmail victims' themselves may not," Mr. Koi leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. "but it is the only way to bring the criminals to light."

"Exactly. And with the thing we 'young folk' call technology, that list can be all over the world in under a half hour." _"That's-"_ "Brilliant!" Said Mrs. Koi, finishing Kiyone's thought. "But, what about the second part, with finding where they live?" "There's an even more simple answer to that one:" Kiyone could already tell where I was going with this. "You don't mean..." I smashed my right fist into left palm. "Let's start droppin' BODIES!* ...ow, my hand..." No one believes me, but can swear just then that I heard the crow from earliar fly by again saying "BAKA! BAK-wow, for real?"

"D-d-did anybody else just hear that?!?" "Hear what?" Kiyone asked sounding pretty mad. "The most ridiculous AND insane idea I've ever heard? Because that's what it sounded like!" "No! I'm positive I just-wait, what?" "How exactly do you expect to pull of something like that?" "Well, I was banking on Ryoko and Ayeka's lightning and sheild powers, Washu's psycho inventions, the feeling of revenge for fallen," I glanced at Mr. Koi as said that last one. "Tch..." "my super-strength, and most importantly: Mihoshi and your abilities as police." "Most, importantly?"

The Koi family just looked at each other and shrugged. "Of course." "But, there's something about that that just, well, it isn't true!" "Kiyone..." Admittedly, I turned kinda red. "I trust you with my li-" "You put me in the same catagory as Mihoshi!" She laughed. "Yikes." I put on an awkward smile. "Yeah, pretty dumb huh? Ha ha ha..." _"Crr-ap."_ I thought in despair. "Um, Anthony?" Mrs. Koi asked "Is your plan even legal?" I blinked. "Legal? Well, I'm pretty sure the first part is, and the second takes advantage of a pretty wide loophole."

*A quote from Malibu's Most Wanted; a theatrical masterpiece.


	9. Love in an Elevator?

"A loophole?" Mr. Koi looked puzzled. "And that would be?" "The same loophole that got them acquitted on the station raid-I, assume-their iron grip on the police, Judges, and the political world will be their un-doing! They can't control the yakuza? Fine, but I'll be DAMNED if they I let them protect them!" I pounded the desk as I said that, I'm ashamed to say. I was too wound up to even remember the look on my face that day. Must havebeen pretty bad, with Hukurou crying like that. "I...I'm sorry..." I sat back down, not looking anyone in the eye. "Ant..."

Then, Mr Koi leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. "...I've decided." We looked to him, we knew we'd go with whatever decision he made. "I-" He was cut off by the intercom. "Mr. Koi?" He almost jumped out of his chair. "Oh! Tomoe! I'm not sure how many more surprises like that this old heart of mine can take!" "Please sir, call me Ms. Yoshi-" "Ki-yooooone! Are you there?" She twitched, recognizing Mihoshi's voice. "Mihoshi! Get off the counter!" That was Washu. "Sir, they say there here for your visitors, Ms. Makibi and Mr. Benedetto." I could make out Ryoko asking "Mr. who?" before Tomo-I mean, Ms. Yoshine started talking again.

"If you're almost finished with your meeting, I could have them wait in the lobby." "It's okay, we're all finished here." He let go of the intercom button, and stood up. "Seiji," Mrs. Koi asked "what about your decision?" "My decision..." We all sorta leaned in a bit in anticipation. "Actually... I forgot what I was going to say..." He was rubbing his hair and pushing his glasses back up while he said that-while Kiyone and I almost fell out of our chairs. Mr. Yamahara jumped too, but not as much probably due to his size, and Hukurou thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Mrs. Koi just smiled a gentle smile. "It can't be helped. At our age, memory just doesn't hold up like it used to." "That's perfectly, understandable." I looked at the bright smile Kiyone had on her face as she said that, and thought _"She really __is__ a strong person-to be able to put on a face like __that__ at a time like this."_"I won't keep you. If you're still interested, we'll contact you once everything has been settled." "Still interested?" I laughed. "Man, you guys couldn't keep me away from this if you tried." I could tell that response was unexpected, but for Mr. Yamahara, it was most welcome.

"HA! A youth with SPIRIT!" He pat me on the back with enough force to make me cough. "I LIKE that!" "Almost as much as I like oxygen..." "Hm?" "Nothing... *cough choke*" "Well, thank you for your time and assistance." Mrs. Koi bowed. "Wave bye-bye Hukurou." Instead, he looked like he was concentrating on something. He looked at us, and took a deep breathe. "........buh." I spoke first. "Well that was adorable." Poor little guy looked exhausted though. And so, we parted ways for the time being, which led to an "interesting" elevator ride.

"..." "Uh, Kiyone?" "Hm? wh-what?" "You've been staring at me through the corner of your eye since we got in here. If I have somethng on my face, you can tell me." She laughed. "No, it's just that I was thinking of the plan you came up with, and how impressive I thought it was." "You thought it was that good?" "Good enough to make me change my mind; I thought the only way to resolve the Koi's situation was to just hand the list over to the proper authorities. I knew that little to nothing would really be accomplished, but it would be a peaceful resolution, and I thought that that was all that mattered, but after you-Ant?"

I was in shock. I could feel myself shaking. "Ant? What's wrong? Ant?!?" "...pid..." "Huh?" "I'm so stupid!" I had my face in my hand. "What are talking about?" "What you just said, about a peaceful solution, that is all that matters, and I was too stupid to come up with one. Instead, I talk about putting so many people in harm's way, for a cause that doesn't even involve me! I'm not just stupid, I'm horrib-" I was interrupted by a stinging pain on my left cheek-from a slap across the face. "Don't you dare talk like that! I won't let you!"

I instinctively brought my left hand up to my cheek, but other than that didn't move an inch. "The words you spoke back there, they... they were... the truth!" It was then that I turned to her. "The, truth?" "You said that your solution was the only viable one; that those evil people be stopped! And the people that you say you're "dragging into this" have the ability to make a difference! You knew that, that's why you said it! Don't you see? Your's isthe way to a peaceful solution!" I wasn't silent because I was lost in thought, or for dramatic effect; admittedly, I was trying to get taste back in my mouth.

"You moved me, and I, I don't want to see you waver." I was speechless. All I could do, was look into her eyes. That however, made her blush. "I-I-I'm sorry, I, I don't know what came over me-" she brought up a hand to cover her face out of embarrassment, but I took it in mine. "Kiyone... You're amazing." We were lost in each other's eyes. Until the force of the elevator really brought us together. At the lips. We pulled away once we realized what was happening. ""Th-that was the-" "Momentum, yeah." "That was it, it wasn't," I stopped. "...us." We were too caught up in each other to remember what happens after an elevator stops.

We didn't hear the door opening, but we did hear a familiar voice. "Ki-yooooone!" A rare universal occurrence happened: two people's hearts stopping at the same time, for just a second. Washu, being the genius she is, pointed that out. "Wow! A seldom transpired moment!" "M-M-M-Mihoshi?!?" She ran to Kiyone sobbing. "Kiyone! I missed you so much!" "Mihoshi, it's only been two and a half hours!" "It felt more like two and two half hours!" After she sighed, she found out why I was frozen in place. The stares. Oooh the stares.

"Wooow." Sasami's eyes were pretty shiny. "Isn't romantic Ay-eka?" She was snickering behind her sleeve. "I knew it! Oh, this is just too delicious!" "Soooo," Ryoko leaned in toward me. "what were you guys up to?" Well, it was "think-on-my-feet" time again. "I-wh-th-it-d-my-er-yu-be-pr-a-ah? Are you...?" I was talking to the dude in the group. "Me? Oh, right! I'm-" "Tenchi, right?" I regained my composure, and the girls-other than Mihoshi-calmed down too. "The girls told me a lot about you." "And your Anthony. The girls told me plenty about you, too."

I extended my hand. "Oh, right." Then he shook it. "Oh, right, I should've bowed, huh?" "It's no problem, I don't mind." "So, you moved out of a house full of chicks huh?" Surprisingly, he just sighed, and that was his response. "...eh?" "Can we have this conversation at Tenchi's please, so I can get heroff of me?" Mihoshi was hugging her leg, and sitting on her shoe like a kid, still sobbing "Don't leave me like that again!" We said goodbye to Ms. Yoshine-who looked very confused at the front desk-and went on our way.

"Well, they sure are a lively group." "So Tomoe?" Mr Koi's voice was coming through the intercom. "What do you think of them?" "What do I think?" She opened her draw, and put a clip of ammo in a Desert Eagle: "If it's a chance to avenge my sister, then I will take it!"


	10. Blessed

The trip to Tenchi's wasn't that long, but it was also kind of-in my opinion-on the boring side; we were technically in the Tokyo suburbs, that meant more houses than panties vending machines. Not as many, but still. I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting everything to be so, normal. As I was trying to figure out why he would move away from a house full of women, after about a minute and a half of walking, I got my answer: the bickering. Ooohhhh the bickering. I thought they were going to tear his arms off, with the way they were pulling on them like that.

"Wow." I said out loud, to no one in particular. "I change my mind-I don't wanna be Tenchi anymore." "So you were still hoping you were up until this point?" Washu asked without looking back at me. "Some uh, things are better off un-said." "Meaning?" Kiyone had her arms crossed, and I couldn't tell at the time, but Ayeka and Ryoko were listening in, and watching from the corner of their eyes. "Well, it's kind of embarrassing but, when I heard Washu talking about what I must have been before, I got scared, alright? Real scared. So, when I heard about what a good guy this Tenchi was, I was just hoping, you know..."

"Wooow..." Sasami and Mihoshi said simultaneously and misty-eyed. "That's-" Tenchi started to say-but was interrupted by Kiyone. "There's no way that's the truth!" All eyes were on me again, so I just sighed and said to Kiyone "Saw right through that one, huh?" "I knew it!" "That's awful!" "Meow!" Man, even Ryo-Ohki didn't like that one. Luckily, I came up with a way out. "What's REALLY awful-is THAT!" While everybody was looking, I whispered to Tenchi "Which way's your house again?" He pointed, and I ran like the wind.

"Huh," Ryoko said, "I don't see what was so awful about-wha-?" "He sure is fast!" Mihoshi said, her hand over her eyes to help her see. "You think he realizes that he's running in the same direction we're walking? And to the same place?" Kiyone asked Washu. They watched, and after a few seconds of running, my shoulders slumped a bit. "Didn't think that one through, now did he?" Washu said with an overly happy smile and tone of voice. "But why ask me Kiyone?" "Hm?" "You seem to know more about him than the rest of us."

Her smile switched to a sneaky one. "Wh-huh?" "Oh, so you're saying that after spending all that time with him, you haven't picked up on anything? No personality quirks, odd habits?" "Miss Washu, those are bad things." Sasami chimed in sounding worried. Kiyone thought hard about what she should reveal at that point. _"I should avoid using words like 'zealous', 'information warfare', and 'guerilla tactics' as talking points; they'd get the wrong idea. But there has to be something...!"_{"Benedetto. Anthony Benedetto."} _"That's it!"_

"Well," Kiyone said after the anticipation came to a head with the others. "Well what? Well what?" Ryoko pestered. "He gave himself... a last name." Their eyes widened. "Did he remember it?" "I'm not sure Ayeka. All he did was look into my eyes, and say it." Even Tenchi's face blushed a little at that. "O-oh come on! I'm sure it's nothing special! We don't even know what that means, right?" There was a silence, which was broken by Tenchi. "Well, actually, I've seen it once." "Where did you see it?" Ayeka's voice was contained, but her eyes showed otherwise.

"At an Italian restaurant. It was used to describe the lasagna. It means-er, well..." He walked over to Kiyone, cupped his hand over her ear and whispered, "Blessed." {"I knew it. I'm dead. I'm dead, and this is heaven."} Kiyone's eyes widened a little, thinking back to that. _"H-he, couldn't have meant-_ "Well Kiyone? What's it mean? C'moooooon!" "Ryoko, if it was something we were supposed to hear, I don't think Tenchi would have whispered it." Ryoko sighed, and they started walking again. "Is it really okay for them to describe lasagna like that though?" Kiyone whispered to Tenchi.

Surprisingly, he responded, "Well, you didn't try it." I was almost to Tenchi's-ball parking it-when I stopped to wait for the others. "...Did I go the right way? Maybe-wait. 'Masaki residence.' Sweet." Huh. Small ballpark. Not small enough it seemed; just down the street, I didn't see a very shady looking individual on his cell phone, sending a picture of yours' truly to some familiar faces. "Yeah! That's him! That's the guy who-uh, sucker punched me!" "That kid?" The guy in the car moved his sunglasses down to get a better look. "Looks kinda on the 'slow' side. He snuck up on you with-how many guys?"

"A-a-at least ten!" "..." "Well, maybe not ten-" "Just admit it! You screwed up!" "That doesn't matter! The point is, I think he's under the payroll of the Kois!" "Well, he did walk out of their building-with a bunch o' broads!" There was laughter on the other end; with the guy I backhanded earlier (the guy he's talking to on the phone, for those who haven't been keeping up) yelling "Hey shut up!" "Either way, he's alone now," He grabbed a sheathed katana from the middle of the blade "I'll just get 'em outta the way now, then-"

"Don't even try," the person sitting next to him looked young-but dangerous. "You won't beat him." "...Gah! I'm not about to disobey the boss's grandson." He put his sword down. "But you sayin' you can tell how tough someone is just by lookin' at 'em now?" "Of course not." He adjusted his seat back. "...I know the guy. For know, we have to back off and reassess the situation, come up with a new approach to this Koi non-sense, and then make our move." "Whatever you say." As they drove past me, I had the feeling I was being watched. When I looked at the car, I just so happened to look him right in the eyes.

"...!" "What's up?" "...It's nothing. Just take me home." He put his seat back even more, and thought _"Why in the world would you side with the Koi's Ant? It goes against everything we fought for all those years ago. ...Not that I have the right to talk, but this was the only path left for me after that day. After Oneehime* was..."_ "Whoa." I said out loud to myself, "Sweet ride. Must've been candidly filming a 'hot guys of Tokyo' show of some kind. I feel kinda awesome!" "You honestly think that?" I recognized Washu's voice. "Why not?"

We all shared a good laugh, but as she walked by, she counted to herself. _"Three, two, one."_ "I'm not really that conceded, I was just-" "I know." Then, I thought about her last question. "What makes you think I'm not qualified?" She burst out laughing. "I guess you didn't notice, huh?" "...Notice what?" "That there, were no cameras in that car." I could feel my eyes widen, even though I was fighting it. "Ooohhhh. Gotcha." I kept walking, but Washu was lost in thought. _"But that sword he was carrying sure looked sharp. If he was involved in Ant and Kiyone's Koi situation, then it's become more dangerous than they realize."_

Suddenly, I sensed tension as some of the girls and Tenchi could tell what she was thinking. I couldn't; I wasn't even awake for a full twenty-four hours, and hadn't picked up on anyone's "tells" yet. "A-anyway... Tenchi, you lived with the girls first right? What was that like? And how did you all meet?" Now the tension was enough to choke smoke itself (actual smoke, not the guy from Mortal Kombat mind you). "...w-w-what did, I say...? "I'm getting a feeling that I should drop this..." "Per-perhaps, that is for the best..." Ayeka said just sullenly to enough make the others sigh. "This will sound completely unbelievable, but-" "Wait a minute," I stopped them, holding my palms up in a stopping motion. "Let me try to piece it together with what I've been given. Washu I already know you're a super scientist." "I am not a super scientist! I'm the, super scientist!" As she went on laughing to herself, I continued. "Ayeka and Sasami." Ryo-Ohki jumped on top of Sasami's head with a meow and Ayeka smiled politely.

"...I'd say you two are some kind of royalty. Specifically princesses." Ayeka's eyes widened with a gasp, and Sasami clapped. "Wow! How'd you know?" _"How__did__he know?"_ Washu thought. _"Is he that good at reading people?"_ "Three things;" I said answering Sasami. "Mannerisms, traditional politician quirks, and most importantly: Ryoko called Ayeka princess earlier." Washu almost fell over. _"__Or__, there could be a more simple answer."_ Ryoko pointed to her face. "I did?" "'Ogre princess', if I'm not mistaken." "...I did?" Tenchi thought about my reasoning for a bit.

"Political quirks? Like what?" "Well, on the way here, I was opening one of her bags, and-" Ayeka jumped up waving her arms around "He found many fancy looking things! That's it!" "Why were you going through her bag?" Her eyes twitched. "Well, we made a bet, that if I found anyyYAH!" She tackled me, covering my mouth! "SSSSHHHH!" Everyone else was laughing-I could barely breathe, but hey, the mood was nice. "He already knows we're Galaxy Police officers, so that narrows it down even more." As Mihoshi nodded while sipping tea, Ryoko chimed in. "Not, so, fast, Kiyone."

The way she said that was what worried her. "He has no idea you guys are 'Galaxy' police. In fact, he doesn't even know you're not from this planet." She laughed teasingly, but Kiyone's eyes widened, and was genuinely shaken up. "Th-that's, right; If he finds out, he, he might..." Mihoshi was still trying to put that together, when Ryoko jumped a little. "Hey, c'mon Kiyone, I was just kidding." "But, isn't that true for all of us?" Mihoshi asked with more curiosity than worry. Ryoko thought about it for a second, then shot up angrily. "Oh crap! That's right!" But when she saw Ayeka trying to forcibly mute me-or as I say to this day, smother me-she took notice of the fact that she was practically mounting me.

"Wow Ayeka, right in front of Tenchi! How bold!" She froze, sat up, realized she was essentially straddling me, and lit up like a cherry. "Th-th-this is nothing! I was just trying to-" "GAAAAAAASP!" I could finally breathe. "Thank you... Ryoko... I was fading away..." As they started to argue again, I crawled outside on my stomach to regain my breath completely. "Phew... That's better..." "Would you have minded half as much if it were Kiyone?" I twitched, then looked to the direction of the voice-the pretty dang accurate voice, but still. "..." "I-it was just a joke! Really."

Tenchi held his palms up and sweat dropped, but I laughed, having enough air in my lungs to stand at that point. "You wouldn't be too far off, I'm not ashamed to admit that. But was it always like this back when you lived there?" He looked up to the sky, with a smile on his face. "It was. I thought I wouldn't miss it when I first moved for school and peace and quiet, but times like this, when we're all together again-" He was cut off by what sounded like an explosion. "I remember why I left." I laughed pretty hard at that one, but he continued.

"They're all good people don't get me wr-" "Trust me, I know. If they weren't, I wouldn't be here. I owe them my life, and I intend to use it to repay them anyway I can." Tenchi was a bit taken aback by that. "Whoa. And you really don't remember a thing?" "Nah man. Washu says she can bring some back, bit by bit, but for a full recovery, I have to regain it myself." "How do you go about doing that?" I laughed. "If I knew, I'd be doing it, that's for sure." We shared a hard laugh then, but after Tenchi sighed. "What the problem is man?" "Well, it's just that after everything we've been through; the girls and I can finally look back at those as good memories..."

I scratched the back of my head. "Jeez, what'd you guys do?" He sighed again. "Long story." "I've got time." "And, I don't think you'd believe it." "I've come to terms with mad scientists, spaceships, and Ryo-Ohki, I'm pretty sure I'm good." "...Good points. Well, it all started when-" "Tenchi! Hi!" Just then, walking from the direction of the setting sun was a girl, waving, calling Tenchi's name. Tenchi was beaming! "Sakuya? Sakuya! ...S-S-Sakuya?" For about five seconds! I blinked, not knowing what was going on, but I wasn't worried about it either. ...Yet.


	11. Male Bonding

"What brings you out here Sakuya? You weren't supposed to be here until Thursday." "Today's Thursday, silly. We're supposed to work on our homework together tonight." She giggled. "You forgot, didn't you?" As I watched as Tenchi squirmed, and wondered what the big deal was. But after about a minute of it, I decided to cut in, and give him a break. "Sakuya right? Hi, I'm Anthony Benedetto, Tenchi's friend." She almost jumped, having not even noticed me until that point. "Oh! Hello Anthony. How do you know Tenchi?" "Through some mutual friends." I said that normally enough, but inside I was laughing hysterically!

A bead of sweat formed on the back of Tenchi's head at that; he wasn't sure to be impressed at how quickly I came up with that, or upset at how easily I dismissed everything that transpired up until that point. "Cool. I'm Sakuya Kumashiro, Tenchi's girlfriend." I stopped for a minute to process that. "...oh." She blinked. "Oh?" "Oh, as in, 'Oh! I just remembered something inside! Tenchi, I'll create a diversion-I mean, head inside real quick." Tenchi's voice said. "Oh, ok." But his eyes screamed "THANK YOU!" I walked in to find not much had changed-except Ryoko and Ayeka were fighting far enough away from everyone for them to finally enjoy a nice dinner.

Which honestly surprised me. "Oh hi." I sat down with everyone, and Sasami offered me some rice, which I graciously accepted. "So when did things calm down?" "About when you and Tenchi snuck out." Nothing gets past Washu. "I snuck out the door, where did he-" "Window." "Ah." "But still, I can't help but think you're taking all of this way too lightly." Washu had her chin in her palm. I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?" There was a pause, but Washu added "Not good enough." to which I sighed. "Look, it's not that don't know all this is unusual-even I managed to piece that together. Thing is, it just doesn't matter to me, I guess."

I looked around the room, not aware of how serene my smile was. "I like you guys." Even my face turned red at that one. "I-I'm, I'm gonna go check on Tenchi!" As I ran out the door again, Washu squealed and clapped her hands really fast. "He's adorable!" Even Ayeka and Ryoko stopped and looked toward her. "He's like the child I never had!" "MA!" Ryoko yelled "What about me?" But she was off in her own little world. "Well Ryoko," Ayeka said putting her hand on Ryoko's arm "since you have a younger brother now, you can confide in me for advice on being an older sibling." She hissed at her.

"Still though," Mihoshi said thinking aloud "he doesn't know the whole truth, but even with what he knows now, he just accepts it with a smile." She looked to Kiyone, who was still processing Mihoshi's last sentence. "Anthony really is something, huh Kiyone?" "Hm? Wha-? Oh, right, yeah..." Sasami giggled, covering her mouth. "You were already thinking that, weren't you Kiyone?" She blushed while Ryo-Ohki jumped on her lap smiling and meowing. "Huh? Wh-why would you think that, S-Sasami?" "Because you've been staring at the door ever since he left." "I was just, um... checking to see if the door was closed, is all."

She looked around the room, assessing the situation to see just how embarrassing it all was. Luckily, Mihoshi was too slow to pick up on where the conversation was going, and Ryoko and Washu were still going over whether or not Ryoko would be having a brother anytime soon. Ayeka on the other hand... "So Sasami, you've noticed it too?" "I'm gonna see what's keeping Tenchi. Be right back!" Kiyone jumped up from the table. Then noticed she jumped up from the table. "E-excuse me..." As she made her way to the door, Ayeka and Sasami giggled to each other, while Mihoshi looked to Ryo-ohki, puzzled. All she did was meow a few times. "...I don't get it..."

I opened the door to find Sakuya leaving, waving behind at Tenchi, who looked legitimately happy. "So…" I said scratching the back of my head. "Could that have gotten as bad as I'm imagining?" "Worse…" Tenchi sighed. "I haven't told any of the girls yet, and you've met Sakuya, she's just so, so-" "Normal?" "Well, yeah, that's the best way to put it." I put my hand on Tenchi's shoulder. "This may sound bad coming from someone in my position, but that's rough." Tenchi thought about that, and decided to shift topics-for a couple of reasons.

"So, about your position," I could sense he was feeling awkward asking, but he genuinely wanted to know, so I widened my eyes and pointed to myself with a "Who, me?" motion. "Any new developments? Like, have you remembered anything yet?" "Jeez guy, it hasn't even been a whole day yet. These things take time man." I looked away, shrugging, but I couldn't keep a straight face once he started apologizing. "I'm just messin' with ya. I don't remember anything yet, but with someone like Washu helping along the way, it shouldn't take too long. Did you know she has some kind of, secret lab in your house?"

"You've been in there?" I was surprised at his surprise. "Uh, yeah. Why?" "It's just, you seem so nonchalant about it. Normal-" "Again with this? Really?" I was getting legitimately irritated from that remark. Despite the flabbergasted expression on Tenchi's face, I felt like I needed to get this off my chest. "W-w-well, I was just-" It was around this time, that Kiyone made it to the the other side of the front door. "Maybe if I can convince Tenchi to come back in, it'll draw some of the heat off me-as terrifying as that-sounds?" She could hear me venting to Tenchi, and decided to listen in-for Tenchi's sake. "I'm not so weak as to completely bug out in a situation like this. Sure, I'm scared-hell; I'm terrified! Who am I? What am I doing in Japan? Is there someone out there right now who's in tears about me right now, or do I not even have anyone-or even a home to go back to?"

Just for a moment, I let myself look up to the few stars shining through the twilight and bright city lights, as night slowly settled in. "I can't let myself think like that, to just keep asking questions while doing nothing for the answers. Nothing ever got accomplished like that. If not for myself, but for those around me I have to stay strong, and just put one foot forward at a time. Although…" I leaned my back against the door with an empty smile. "…Putting it all in perspective like this, it does seem kinda daunting. …ish." I slid down until I was sitting, stretched out my legs and let my arms go limp. "I… I don't have anything. Or anyone really. That fact that good, decent people like the girls found me, I can only chalk up to a miracle."

Tenchi sat next to me, and looked up too. "So it basically boils down to: you feel like you're being a moocher, is that it?" "…" I sniffled, he laughed. "Don't worry about that. The girls tell me you're a good person, and they want to help you. And if ANYONE can, it'd be them. Plus, they really do seem to enjoy your company." My eyes started to shine a bit-which Tenchi noticed. "They… really do?" "Y-yeah."

"…I'm glad. Just like with this whole Koi fiasco, I just want to be useful to people, ya know? Especially Kiyone." Tenchi was honestly surprised. "W-why Kiyone?" "Because, I just get this sorta, vibe from her. I can't explain it, but just seeing her smile…" Just thinking about it made me smile softly, but warmly. "It means everything to me." I didn't know it at the time, but Kiyone had her back against the door, looking upward in almost the same position I was.

There was a silence. I'm guessing Tenchi was somewhere between "moved", and "Gee, he doesn't know how awkward this is for me." But I sighed. "And after what happened earlier-" "The elevator?" I turned, legitimately surprised he knew about that. "Washu." "Ah." "Well, I don't really know all that much about that kinda thing, but…" Tenchi stood up. "I hope everything works out." I smiled, put my hand on his shoulder and said "Thanks man. You're really a good dude." Tenchi was getting ready to go back inside, when I added, "Man, imagine if it were you in my place!" He turned blue-ish.

"…I apologize." "No, I-it's alright. Let's head back in." Kiyone was laughing at my joke/nightmare scenario when she walked away from the door. As she walked, she thought to her self _"He used the word 'dude' in conversation just now. … Not sure how I should feel about that."_ So Kiyone rejoined everyone in the living room as Mrs. Koi was just getting off the phone with her husband. "It's fine Seji-kun, trust me. These nice young people even gave me a place to sleep, and we're out of 'their' territory, so just try to relax some. It's not good to be so stressed at our age, or for Hukurou."

"Ah, you always know what's best Zu-Zu. I'll call you in the morning. Love you, good night." Mr. Koi hung up the phone, and gave a long, heavy sigh. "Tell me gikei*," Mr. Yamahara was sitting across from him, face half illuminated by the moon, "is everything moving as scheduled?" "Yes, Zu-Zu has arrived at Tenchi Masaki's residence safely." "There was no… Interference?" "No…" Mr. Koi took off his glasses and buried his face in his palms. "…there was not." His glasses gleamed as a cloud moved. "She should no longer be in danger." Mr. Yamahara's sinister grin was now fully visible. "Nor can she interfere, gikei."

*gikei=brother in law, according to Google


	12. In Books' Written Pages

Mr. Koi remained silent. "You seem upset. I thought you'd be relieved-" "We both know what I'm upset about." "Now now, don't forget how all of this came about…" Mr. Yamahara stood up, his steps seemed rather arrogant, and his tone of voice of no consolation, despite his words. "I know Zhang." "If the contents of that list were made public, it wouldn't just be your reputation that would be destroyed. So many others-" "I said I know, Zhang!" Mr. Koi removed his head from his palms and sat back in his chair, removing his glasses and pinching his glabellas*.

"And yet when I'm forced to remind you of the facts like that, you always give me that look." He leaned over Mr. Koi's shoulder. "You're starting to hurt my feelings." "Because this was all your scheme! You told me you would have the money to repay those Yakuza scumbags by now! I can't keep lying to her anymore!" Mr. Yamahara snarled. "What you SHOULD be doing is what I TELL YOU!" With that, he smashed Mr. Koi's solid, wooden-and fancy looking-desk in half with a single handed smash. "The whole reason so many people got hurt at the ZTV station was because YOU hesitated to kill the head of the family when they attacked!"

Mr. Koi rose but a single eyebrow. "I don't think I need to say how INSANE that sounds. You could hear it right? In the back of your throat, did-" There was a moment of kind of awkward silence. "…Continue. And please make it quick; it's not healthy for someone my age to be kept up this late, Zhang." It was seven p.m. The knowledge of this caused Mr. Yamahara to face-palm quite fiercely. "You want a simple solution to this whole, 'yakuza' business, don't you?" "Nothing would makes me happier." "Well then, why not use those kids from earlier?" "Because that would be putting them in danger from the money WE borrowed from them!"

"We're the one's in danger; from your indecision!" And with one backhand, Mr. Koi was knocked to the floor. "We're using those kids to deal with them, END OF STORY!" He picked Mr. Koi up by his hair, his glasses slipping off the front of his face. The force of Mr. Yamahara's blow bent one of its arms. "I'll call for my sister in the morning. Until then, you keep your damn mouth SHUT!" As he walked away, Mr. Koi struggled to get back to his desk, propping up his swivel chair, and retrieving a spare pair of glasses from one of it's drawers. Mr. Koi lay motionless for a moment until moonlight once again shined from his glasses. "…I'm sorry, ZuZu…"

We all slept soundly enough-once Washu put a force field over Tenchi's door, and the yelling stopped. The girls all shared a room-divided to separate Ayeka and Ryoko-while I slept in the parlor. But whilst I snoozed, I also dreamt. But it was more than that. I know dreaming can be an extremely emotion thing sometimes, but this felt… different. What I was seeing wasn't clear, but I understood it despite how murky it was. Almost inaudible, yet every sound seemed to be resonating from within me, as if it were simply locked away. Everything was just so… familiar. It WAS familiar, and yet also terrifying.

Nothing but wreckage as far as the eye could make out, most of it still smoking. "No… NO! This isn't what I wanted!" I buried my face in my hands, but they were wet. …With crimson. "I just wanted things to get better! Y-you lied!" I could tell it was my voice, just a lot younger and incrediblely strained. "You said you'd make things better! I didn't want everything to go away!" Everything began to blur again, and new voices became clear through the thousands that all seemed to be yelling at once. It was defeaning, but the new voices were finally clear enough to shut the others out. "Incredible… How'd this kid get so lucky?"

I was looking down, so the voices didn't have a face. But there were a lot of sirens and crying. "Not sure, the kid hasn't said a word. Looks like he saw hell though, and from where we found him-" "Is he… …Is he a mutant?" "We'll check him once we get him to the hospital. Just make sure they're extra careful with him. After all the poor thing just lost everything." And as if my own mind hated me, the voices all started up again at the same time, seconds going by like monnths. I knew I was asleep, but I couldn't wake myself up. My subconcious was trying to get me to remember, but all at once. Like it was rushing me, trying to get me ready for something.

All that ended up happening was me waking up to a massive headache.

-Author's Notes: Yes, this took me years and yes, this is short. Mostly due to me not being able to escape my own head anymore. Got my GED, still looking for work, not enough money to even VISIT my girlfriend... Plus I write while "blocking out" whatever's around me. If I'm in my comfort zone, I can't focus. But yes, I'm back to putting my fingers to the keys because I want this to be the ONE THING I can actually CREATE in my life.

tl,dr: Mysterbyg is BACK!


End file.
